6.1. ERMUSR 10-11-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elk River~i: Municipal U 13069 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 430 Elk River, bIN 55330-0430 UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING P~OgWpEAEUnr 1 tl/''~~VI~~ P p W E R E D T O S E R V E Phone: 763.441.2020 Fax: 763.441.8099 TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Theresa Slominski -Finance and Office John Dietz -Chair Manager Daryl Thompson -Vice Chair Al Nadeau -Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: October 11, 2011 6.1 SUBJECT: Staff U dates -Finance Director/Office Mana er DISCUSSION: We had 1086 credit card payment transactions in September, compared to 935 in August. The fee for September should be $2,443.50. We had our audit interviews Monday, October 3rd with the interview team of Tim Simon, Lori Zeimer, Lori Stitch, Lorrie Franz, Bob Pearson, and myself. The three auditing firms that were interviewed were the current auditors Abdo Eick & Meyers, and competing firms Larson Allen, and Kern Dewenter Viere (KDV). All three firms presented well, proposed a reduced rate from our prior audit rates, and all firms' proposals were very comparable in price (for ERMU. The quotes varied more for the City.) In evaluation of the proposing auditing companies, the items we were most focused on was experience with Municipal Utilities of Electric and Water. Recognizing that an audit firm provides more of a service than an annual audit, but a partner in addressing challenges within our industry related to many varied financial aspects, we felt this was extremely important. The team is meeting again on Friday, October 7`h to determine final recommendations. All auditors also provided a quote for performing the audit with a separate component for preparing the audit report (as requested.) A consideration I would like to address is the preparation of the report for the upcoming year. Recognizing that we will have reduced audit fees, regardless of the final firm selection, I would propose that we have the auditing firm prepare the actual audit report this year, while we internally prepare the audit report and position ourselves to do it entirely the following year. This allows us more opportunity to work with the auditors side by side in its creation so efficiencies can be identified and the best processes adopted. Especially if a new audit firm is selected, this would allow us transition time to produce the best quality report.